Free Lord of the White Hell book Two lotwh-2 by Ginn Hale

of his friends fell ill. Like his husband he wrote no letter, just enclosed a packet of instructions.
    Nestor sniffed one of the dry poultices and wrinkled his nose. "I think I'd have to be dying to take that."
    "The instructions say-" Javier paused, concentrating on Rafie's looping Haldiim script. "-it's to be mixed with wine-no, wait not wine. An alcohol that's stronger than wine."
    "You can read that?" Nestor gazed at Javier in surprise. Kiram didn't bother to express his own curiosity anymore. Javier would never tell him just where or how he had developed his grasp of the Haldiim language.
    "I've picked a little up from Kiram." Javier didn't look up from the paper but went on reading slowly. "Mix with a strong alcohol to produce a plaster. Apply it to a wound to keep it from turning foul."
    "Smells foul enough on its own." Nestor returned the bag to the small chest with the other poultices.
    Then came the thick sheaf of papers from Kiram's mother recounting news of his family and friends. They seemed to all be doing well. His older brother Majdi would be back from sea this spring. Both his sisters were helping his mother keep up with the Solstice candy orders and his father had managed to go another season without setting his workshop on fire.
    Musni and his wife were both in good health; though, Kiram's mother added with distinct disapproval, Musni had been seen in the company of street snakes more than once in the past few months.
    Hashiem Kir-Naham-Kiram couldn't help but notice the extra flourishes with which his mother wrote the man's name- was doing good business at his mother's pharmacy and had asked after Kiram on three separate occasions. He had even been so thoughtful as to send a Solstice gift along in this very package.
    Kiram sat back on his bed, feeling suddenly fatigued and more aware of the ache in his calf than he had been all day. He tried to imagine what his mother would make of Javier as a prospective suitor for her son. A hell-branded Cadeleonian nobleman with a penchant for sleight of hand and a group of friends who were little more than highborn ruffians. He certainly would never be an obedient pharmacist's son.
    Noticing Kiram's attention, Javier asked, "Something wrong?"
    "I'm just feeling a little done in. My leg's started to hurt some."
    "Shall we try your uncle's plaster?" Javier asked.
    "We don't have any alcohol, do we?"
    "Atreau does. Under his bed," Nestor offered. "Helps to warm girls up when they sneak up to his room."
    "Your upperclassman is certainly prepared for all occasions, isn't he?" Kiram laughed and then shook his head. "Thanks, but I'll be fine so long as I get off my feet for a little while."
    "All right, you lie there and Javier and I will open up your boxes for you."
    Kiram nodded his agreement and the two of them set to work while Kiram lay across his bed on his stomach, watching. Javier's choice of box yielded two wheels of cheese, a box of dried sugar fish and then three bottles of writing ink. Nestor's face lit up when he open up a box of candied fruit, all decorated and arranged to look like a lover's garland. A small card fell from the box and Javier picked it up. He frowned as he read it silently.
    "This is beautiful!" Nestor drew in a deep breath of the fragrant garland. Even from where he lay Kiram could smell the mixture of spiced candy and citrus fruit.
    "What's the card say?" Nestor asked Javier.
    "Don't know. I couldn't read the handwriting," Javier replied with a shrug. He handed the card to Kiram and Kiram tried not to feel mortified as his eyes fell across the words:
    Most beloved youth, I pray that I do not offend in sending something so simple to someone so much more delectable. I await your return as the tulip longs to penetrate the warm earth of spring.
    Ever your admirer,
    Hashiem Kir-Naham
    Kiram could hardly believe that the polite older man he remembered had written this to him. He wondered what his mother must have told the pharmacist about